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On July 14, 2006, Israeli Brig.-Gen. Dan Halutz calls for the return of the two Israelis taken two days earlier.

"We are taking the Lebanese government as the one who is carrying all the responsibility on its shoulders regarding this area and regarding the future of Lebanon."

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Shortly after the home and office of Hezbollah's secretary general, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, was bombed in southern Beirut on July 14, the organization's official TV station aired an audio address from Nasrallah.

"You want an open war, we will go to the open war. We are ready for it. War, war on every level."

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During a July 17 news conference in Paris with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister Stephen Harper discusses the Canadian government's response to Canadians trying to leave strife-torn Lebanon.

"Our officials have been in contact with literally thousands of people in Lebanon to prepare this and have lined up resources in several countries to make it possible."

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Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, on July 18, talks about the government's plan to rescue those of the estimated 50,000 Canadian citizens who want to leave Lebanon. He says Canada has chartered six ships to shuttle people to Cyprus and Turkey, set to arrive on July 19.

"This will be largest-scale evacuation in Canadian history."

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NDP Leader Jack Layton criticizes the government's handling of the evacuation on July 18, days after other countries began fetching their nationals, and a day before the first Canadian-chartered ship was to arrive in Beirut.

"The south is isolated" and "there doesn't seem to be a plan" for Canadians stranded there.

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Kim Girtel, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs, says on July 18 the evacuation will take some time and the embassy does not yet know how many of the 30,000 Canadians registered with the embassy want to leave the country.

"It would be nice if we could Star Trek them out but it's going to take time. Priority goes to people in greatest need."

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Harper says on July 17 that he has no interest in criticizing Israel for defending itself. He says it is a challenge for Israel to fight a decentralized organization, such as Hezbollah, when its members are embedded within urban populations in Lebanon.

"We don't intend to single out Israel. We are not going into the temptation of some to single out Israel, which was the victim of the initial attack."

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U.S. President George W. Bush's private conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, picked up by a nearby microphone during the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 17.

"See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--- and it's over."

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Meyssoun el-Akhras, who lost seven relatives when an Israeli air strike pounded a border town in Lebanon, addresses reporters in Montreal on July 17. She says she is a proud Canadian, and justice and peace are values that Canada has long stood for, but that those values are seriously compromised as long as Canada does not put political pressure on Israel.

"Everyone says it's the fault of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is our protector."

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Hassan el-Akhras, whose father was killed during an air strike in the Lebanese border town of Aitaroun. He heard the news on July 16 while demonstrating in Montreal against Israel's attacks in Lebanon.

"It's not just us. There are a lot of civilians who have been killed. The streets are closed. I am asking the international community to help and put pressure on Israel to stop the bombing."

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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says on July 18 he will consider a ceasefire if Hezbollah agrees to pull back from the Lebanese border, release two Israeli soldiers and end rocket attacks on Israel. He also says Israel will show no mercy to militant organizations that attack Israeli cities and towns.

"We are not looking for war or direct conflict but, if necessary, we will not be frightened by it."

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Hezbollah legislator Hussein Haj Hassan rejects Olmert's ceasefire offerings on July 18, saying they were just an excuse to let Israel continue its attacks.

"We accept what secures our country's interest and pride and dignity and not to submit to Israeli conditions."

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Harper makes a surprise announcement on July 19 that he will fly to Cyprus in a government plane and try to shuttle about 120 Canadians back home. During the press conference – which airs at the same time the first ship arrives in Beirut to rescue Canadians – Harper deflects comments that this action is an attempt to assuage criticism of the government's handling of the situation.

"It's more than a symbolic trip .... I think criticism in this kind of situation, given all the complexities, is inevitable. One way or another we believe there's a real need here. We believe we can make a more than symbolic contribution to helping the situation. We believe it's the right thing to do. That's why we're going to do it."

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Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, appealing on July 19 for an end to the hostilities which have killed 300 people and injured 1,000, takes a swipe at countries that have called Israel's response measured.

"Is this what the international community calls the right of self-defence? Is this the price to pay?"

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